Raja Ampat (Misool Eco Resort) in June? vs. Bali?

[Dan]

if you go to Bali in July instead in June by switching itinerary to go to Komodo first & then to Bali after Komodo, then you'll have a better chance to see Mola-Mola.

During your no fly time, you can stay in Ubud to chill out. I stayed in a bungalow looking over rice field, waking up by bird singing in the morning, then take elephant ride in the morning, Ayung river rafting in the afternoon, visiting Monkey Forest, having dinner in Bebek Bengil (dirty duck) and seeing some of the Balinese dance afterwards. Also going to Batu Bulan to see the Keris & Barong dance on the next day before heading out to Denpasar airport to fly home.

 

[Luko]

During your no fly time, you can stay in Ubud to chill out. ..., having dinner in Bebek Bengil (dirty duck) and seeing some of the Balinese dance afterwards.

Rather than Bebek Bengil which is rather a tourist group restaurant, try Hujan Locale once (book before).and order the tuna tartare with watermelon and basil thai.. you'll never forget it (even the sauvignon wine from Chile is good), Take it from a parisian foody.

 

[Dan]

Rather than Bebek Bengil which is rather a tourist group restaurant, try Hujan Locale once (book before).and order the tuna tartare with watermelon and basil thai.. you'll never forget it (even the sauvignon wine from Chile is good), Take it from a parisian foody.

Thanks for the tip, Luko. I jot it down in my notebook for my next trip # 13. There are so many things to see & do in Bali. I would never get tired of going there.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Actually, you can't say it's overhyped when speaking about nudibranches and macro critters for instance or you didn't have the good guide... while on the other hand Nusa Penida is mostly good for mantas (the small reef Manta Alfredi not the large ones like in R4) you will see as many Molamola in Padang Bai.
Tulamben is on average 2,5hr car ride from Kuta/Airport, when you get 1hr more penalty, it's mostly because of a ceremony blocking the road even though truck traffic has picked up, there are fast and large roads from Sanur to Padang Bai.

Again, it all depends on your expectations. Back home we have tons of macro and loads of nudis (indeed we have a group on divers that specialise in finding them and are often seeing species that "shouldn't be in the area" It's not down to a guide - we were allowed to dive unguided as I know the dive shop owner as a good friend. But I didn't go to Tumbelen for macro - or anything in particular just to have some enjoyable diving. As' I've said before my opinion is that it was just okay, and there are much better places in the local area

Accordingly the information of the travel time was correct. We obviously have two journeys, and others had a similar travel time. all the reasons passed on were from the shop owner (a friend) who lives there. They weren't down to delays caused by special exceptions as you suggest

 

[Diving Dubai]

if you go to Bali in July instead in June by switching itinerary to go to Komodo first & then to Bali after Komodo, then you'll have a better chance to see Mola-Mola.

This year, in July the Mola Mola were scarce as the water temps were to high. I'd probably visit a bit later in the year next time. On the other hand we got a whale shark which is unusual apparently for that area and that time of year. Certainly the guides and shop owner were surprised. The shop owner wouldn't believe anyone as he didn't see it, unfortunately the video evidence was there and the Whale shark had been very close to him, while he was concentrating on something else

 

[Dan]

I heard there were too many of them hanging around there & one got badly injured by speedboat propeller:

Divers Spot Badly Injured Whale Shark in Bali | Jakarta Globe

 

[Dan]

There are hundreds of them now in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Check out the pictures above. Each of them about the size of a boat, as shown by the white spec in the pictures.

 

[Diving Dubai]

View attachment 381538 View attachment 381537 There are hundreds of them now in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Check out the pictures above. Each of them about the size of a boat, as shown by the white spec in the pictures.

Stop right there!! I'm officially jealous. We get them here, and we generally see one every month when we organise a two day charter. But seriously.... I defo need to investigate. We were looking for somewhere different next year. A bit of a haul from here, need to save up for business class airfares

 

[Dan]

July-September is spawning season for snappers in Isla Mujeres. The whalesharks help control the snappers population there by sucking up those eggs, so I'm told.

Diving in cenotes there is also fantastic. I felt like floating inside a cavern. It's something different. Instead of seeing fish & critters, you see stalagmites & stalactites, also halocline (interface of saltwater & freshwater)

 

[Luko]

Again, it all depends on your expectations. Back home we have tons of macro and loads of nudis (indeed we have a group on divers that specialise in finding them and are often seeing species that "shouldn't be in the area" It's not down to a guide - we were allowed to dive unguided as I know the dive shop owner as a good friend. But I didn't go to Tumbelen for macro - or anything in particular just to have some enjoyable diving. As' I've said before my opinion is that it was just okay, and there are much better places in the local area

Accordingly the information of the travel time was correct. We obviously have two journeys, and others had a similar travel time. all the reasons passed on were from the shop owner (a friend) who lives there. They weren't down to delays caused by special exceptions as you suggest

Nudibranches counting is not about expectations. It's factual, I was about to warn you with the difference between "a lot of nudibranch" and "the most nudibranch species you can have". Tulamben (its correct spelling btw, not "Tumbelen") belongs to the second category, nudibranch lovers (like me) come all over the world in Tulamben and hire the best guides to hunt and photo them.
Obviously you're not into macro or nudibranches, I respect that but stating that it's "overhyped", is like saying Lembeh is "overhyped" because there are no threshers sharks, nor mantas. Tulamben is definitely not overhyped to people who know better nudibranch, I would even say it's often underrated and overlooked compared to Lembeh or Anilao in that respect.

Besides that if you don't have a guide, I am not surprized your opinion is that is just okay, Tulamben is not about diving as far as you can with a wall on your right shoulder.
Unguided is not an "allowance", it's not someone to look about yourself, it's someone to spot the rare critters that you don't see elsewhere (and don't tell me you know where to find the critters in a place you haven't dived before, do your search about marine species in the coral golden triangle) .

Now my point is that you still cannot say it's "overhyped" because this looks like a judgment not an opinion, plus you didn't dive in the correct conditions without having the keys of Tulamben.